New Countdown: Done Early, For Once!

Fall Out Boy

 Well I had some time to myself on Saturday morning/afternoon. So that, plus the announcement of the Grammy nominees yesterday made for a quick and easy recording session. I was done recording by 11pm!

So there are lots of Grammy nominee things on this one, and that's the kind of thing I like: when the songs that we've been looking at all year start pulling Grammy noms!

It's a good one! Enjoy!

Countdown #226

***Featuring***
alt-J
Bastille
Big Data featuring Joywave
Fall Out Boy
Foo Fighters
Hozier
Imagine Dragons
Milky Chance
Vance Joy
Walk the Moon

2015 Best Alternative Music Album Nominees Announced

So the Grammy announcements are going on today and they just announced the 5 nominees for Best Alternative Music Album (the award that we just spent a couple years going through every winner on the podcast). The nominees are:

• This Is All Yours – alt-J
• Reflektor – Arcade Fire
• Melophobia – Cage the Elephant
• St. Vincent – St. Vincent
• Lazaretto – Jack White

I'm pulling for St. Vincent to win this one, but really, I'd be ok with Jack White or Cage the Elephant to win, as well. The other two are contenders, but I can't say I'm really pulling for them.

In any case, we'll see what album we're looking at for the month when the Grammy Awards happen on February 8th on CBS

New Countdown: Indestructible!!

Milky Chance

Well, we did it. It's finally done. 225 nearly defeated me, but I said, "Nay! I will not let a nasty stomach bug prevent the Alternative Tunes from reaching the ears of my fans! They've worked too hard for too long to keep up with my ramblings for me to quit now! I must create an episode with extra ramblings! Extra windy ramblings!"

And that's just what I did :)

Countdown #225

***Featuring***
alt-J
Bastille
Big Data featuring Joywave
The Black Keys
Fall Out Boy
Foo Fighters
Girls
Hozier
Imagine Dragons
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes
Milky Chance
Vance Joy

New Countdown: Late Night Inspiration

Kendrick Lamar

For having started as late as I did, this one came together quite quickly and quite easily. That said, this late late night nonsense has got to stop! Buuuut it probably won't.

Happy Sunday, everyone! Don't forget to vote on the Festive Fifty if you haven't already!

Countdown #224

***Featuring***
alt-J
Bastille
Big Data featuring Joywave
The Black Keys
Fall Out Boy
Foo Fighters
Hozier
Kendrick Lamar
Lorde
Milky Chance
Vance Joy

New Countdown: Not Insanity

Big Data

It's a fun countdown this week. It's one that changes up the order of things a little (I mean, the bonus song isn't right at the beginning. Otherwise, you know, i'm not counting down out of order or whatever. That would be insanity.)

I hope you enjoy it!

Oh and don't forget to vote on the Festive Fifty. Look down a couple of posts for more information!

Countdown #223

***Featuring***
alt-J
Bastille
Big Data featuring Joywave
The Black Keys
Fall Out Boy
Foo Fighters
Hozier
Lorde
Milky Chance
Vance Joy

New Countdown: Danny DeVito

Weezer

A chilly November morning with some hot tunes!...would be my synopsis of this song if I were advertising it in a newspaper, or posting it on iTunes. :)

It's a good one this week. Short, but good. Like Danny DeVito.

Countdown #222

***Featuring***
alt-J
Bastille
Big Data featuring Joywave
The Black Keys
Fall Out Boy
Foo Fighters
Hozier
Milky Chance
St. Vincent
Vance Joy
Weezer

New Countdown: Are you more of an Adam Duritz kind of person? Or More of an Adam DON'Tritz kind of person?

Vance Joy

It's funny. This episode takes a long time to get to the first song and then the first song is really long, but this one ended up shorter than last weeks, somehow. I think it's a lack of reading FULL REVIEWS for many of the songs.

Both ways of doing things ends in entertaining podcasts, in my opinion, though, so either way works for me!

Happy "Fall Back", everyone!

Countdown #221

***Featuring***
alt-J
Bastille
Big Data featuring Joywave
The Black Keys
Counting Crows
Fall Out Boy
Hozier
Lorde
Milky Chance
Vance Joy
Weezer

New Countdown: And so shutters shut and so and also.

Vance Joy

So, right before I went to bed last night, I tweeted: "I'm going to wager that my podcast this week is the only one that starts with Rise Against and ends with Gertrude Stein"

And I think that pretty much covers it.

Enjoy the journey! (No songs by Journey appear on this episode)


Countdown #220

***Featuring***
alt-J
Arctic Monkeys
Bastille
Big Data featuring Joywave
The Black Keys
The Dirty Heads
Gertrude Stein
Hozier
Milky Chance
Rise Against
Vance Joy
Weezer

New Countdown: From Off the Wall to Right Smack Dab in the Middle of the Wall

The Black Keys

Ok, so based off the title, you might be thinking this podcast has some early solo era Michael Jackson and maybe Pink Floyd singing "Hey You." And you'd be well within your rights to think that. But it is sadly not the case. Although it occurs to me now that those two albums were out right around the same time, which is weird to me.

No, the title just is referring to the range of song on the countdown this week. Sometimes the really kooky songs are immediately followed by songs that are 100% safe. There's nothing wrong with either category and I think the show is helped by a healthy serving of both!

Enjoy!

Countdown #219

***Featuring***
alt-J
Arctic Monkeys
Bastille
Big Data featuring Joywave
The Black Keys
The Dirty Heads
Hozier
Jonnie Common
Milky Chance
Weezer
Vance Joy

New Countdown: Is Hozier a BNL Fan??

Coldplay

 Whoa a gif for a cover photo! It's like we're living in Harry Potter or something!

Pretty straightforward show this week. I kind of have an idea about what I'm going to do for bonus songs for a while, so that's good.

And, even though it's 1:44 in the morning as I'm typing this, I'm not feeling too tired, so that's good!

Enjoy!

Countdown #218

***Featuring***
alt-J
Arctic Monkeys
Bastille
Big Data featuring Joywave
Coldplay
The Dirty Heads
The Griswolds
Hozier
Milky Chance
Weezer
Vance Joy

New Countdown: Pecos Bill

Coldplay

I was listening to the 2000-2009 station on SiriusXM yesterday and "New Divide" by Linkin Park came on and it made me think about how much the chart has changed in the time that I've been doing the countdown. It's gotten a lot weirder, and maybe a little more mellow?

I know that music is in constant flux and I'm just really happy to have lassoed onto that flux so that we can enjoy the ride together!

Countdown #217

***Featuring***
alt-J
Arctic Monkeys
Big Data featuring Joywave
Coldplay
The Dirty Heads
Hozier
KONGOS
Lorde
Milky Chance
Vance Joy
Weezer

New Countdown: I Wonder When THIS Became the Template For Podcast Post Titles

The Dirty Heads

 This one went so well this week. I'm not feeling totally sick anymore, so I'd imagine that helped. Sometimes it just goes easy. I bet Casey would have agreed with me. God, wouldn't it be awesome to do this kind of things as a JOB? It baffles the mind, I tell you.

Countdown #216

***Featuring***
alt-J
Arctic Monkeys
Big Data featuring Joywave
Coldplay
The Dirty Heads
Hozier
KONGOS
Milky Chance
Thom Yorke
Vampire Weekend
Vance Joy
Weezer

New Countdown: Sleepy James and the Undying Hit Song

Vampire Weekend, ca. 2013

This one's going up a little late. We've had quite the Sunday morning, so I didn't really have time to post it this morning and I didn't have the energy to post it last night. I think I mention it in one of the intros that I was SUPER tired this week. I'm really hoping it didn't translate to the intros. The music is really good regardless and I think the episodes might be redeemed by that fact.

There's an unprecedented event this week on the chart, so you definitely want to tune in!

Countdown #215

***Featuring***
alt-J
Arctic Monkeys
Big Data featuring Joywave
The Black Keys
Coldplay
The Dirty Heads
Hozier
Milky Chance
Vampire Weekend
Vance Joy
Weezer

New Countdown: Yay! Long sleeves!!

Milky Chance

I don't know what is doing it, but I am SO excited for the chillier weather this year. This morning, I let the dog out and felt a little nip in the air and was like "oh boy! maybe i can wear LONG sleeves today!!" so weird.

I touch on the impending autumn a little in the show as well as talking about all the normal stuff. Songs, artists, trends, all the usual stuff. Enjoy!!

Countdown #214

***Featuring***
alt-J
Bastille
Big Data featuring Joywave
The Black Keys
Coldplay
The Dirty Heads
Hozier
Milky Chance
Vampire Weekend
Vance Joy
Weezer

New Countdown: School's Back For Autumn

alt-J

Fall is here. Ring the bell. It's so crazy that it's already September. It feels like the year is flying by, but at the same time it feels like we have a whole bunch more year left to go. One of the thing I love about the charts is not knowing what songs are going to be on it in the upcoming weeks and months. By Christmas, who knows what we'll be listening to? I find that super exciting!

Countdown #213

***Featuring***
alt-J
Big Data featuring Joywave
The Black Keys
Bleachers
Coldplay
The Dirty Heads
Jack Johnson
KONGOS
Milky Chance
Vampire Weekend
Vance Joy
Weezer

New Countdown: The Actual Actual End of Summer (Unless You're Counting Autumnal Equinox)

Milky Chance

Well here we are. Labor Day weekend. The official end of summer. All those weeks when I was talking about "the beginning of the end" and all of that were just a prelude to this. We go over the Summer Songs of the year and almost forget our annual discussion about weekends and organized labor :)

It's a fun one with just a little bit of rambling for all those fans of Rambling James!


Countdown #212

***Featuring***
alt-J
Big Data featuring Joywave
The Black Keys
Bleachers
Coldplay
The Dirty Heads
Gotye
KONGOS
Milky Chance
Vance Joy
Weezer

New Countdown: Ahead of the Game (for once)

Daft Punk and Pharrell Williams (and Nigel Rodgers)

Well, it is 9:37 on Saturday night. I finished this podcast on Thursday night and I'm halfway through the recording of an upcoming bonus episode. So I'm feeling pretty good about the scheduling of it all.

This is a good episode. We're getting into the heat of the summer. These are the episodes we'll look back on come December and be like, "Oh yeah....remember that?" or at least I like to think we will. Does anyone else ever get pre-emptively nostalgic? Is there a term for that kind of nostalgia?

Countdown #158

***Featuring***
alt-J
Beck
Capital Cities
Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams
Fall Out Boy
Imagine Dragons
Muse
The Neighbourhood
New Politics
Thirty Seconds to Mars

New Countdown: All the right sides of all the right records

Thirty Seconds to Mars

This is one of those countdowns that was recorded all around the globe......or in two places in the same state....but it's pretty close, right?

Hopefully this week, I can record the next normal episode and the two pre-records that I want to do before my kid is born in the middle of the month.....Wish me luck!

Countdown #157

***Featuring***
alt-J
Beastie Boys
Capital Cities
Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams
Fall Out Boy
Imagine Dragons
Muse
The Neighbourhood
New Politics
Thirty Seconds to Mars

New Countdown: Hello? Hello? Anybody home?

New Politics

Well, here I am! Haha. Yeah, the time got the best of me this week, but, when you think about it, being a couple of hours late is nothing when you think about the perpetuity of the life of the podcast after it's published. I listen to a podcast where the host has kind of a running gag where he tries to keep the content timeless, so he'll say stuff like "back in early 2013" for stuff that happened a couple of months ago.

Anyways. It's kind of a short episode, also due to the fact that I picked the worst times to record, BUT it also contains what may be the most adorable intro ever. So you may want to give it a chance :)

Countdown #156

***Featuring***
alt-J
Beastie Boys
Capital Cities
Ed Sheeran
Fall Out Boy
Imagine Dragons
Muse
The Neighbourhood
New Politics
Of Monsters and Men
Thirty Seconds to Mars

New Countdown: 50% MORE CONTENT!

It's the longest episode in 3 months. It has 5 bonus songs. And I loved every minute of it. I feel like we're in the midst of hearing "the sound of 2013 in alternative music," but it won't become evident what exactly that sound consists of for a while yet. I'm happy to just sit back and enjoy the tunes.

I hope you'll join me.

On a related note, 1/5 of the podcast is dedicated to Father's Day, so I just wanted to wish all the Dads out there a happy one and I hope you celebrate it in a way that makes you happy and that you know how valuable a good Dad is in a kid's life.

Countdown #155

***Featuring***
alt-J
Arcade Fire
Beastie Boys
Capital Cities
Fall Out Boy
Imagine Dragons
The Lumineers
Muse
The Neighbourhood
New Politics
Of Monsters and Men
Paul Simon
The Soggy Bottom Boys
Thirty Seconds to Mars
Yellowcard